The author examines discourses of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and World Englishes (WEs) in the commercials for 2 standardized English tests: the International English Language Testing System for study abroad in English-dominant countries and the Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program for Canadian permanent residency and…

This paper draws on ethnographic research to discuss the textual practices and social relations of language assessment. It examines the tensions that language educators and assessment practitioners encounter while making decisions about immigrant professionals' language competence. It also analyzes the role of other social actors in constituting…

Drawing on qualitative interview and focus group data collected from Internationally Educated Teachers (IETs) in the context of two different research studies conducted in Ireland and Manitoba, Canada, this article critically examines how national/regional linguistic requirements and expectations of a hidden curriculum are experienced as barriers…

This study explores the attitudes and identities of future ESL teachers in a 4-year teacher education program in a regional university in Québec, Canada. We describe the sociopolitical context of learning English in Québec and explain studies describing the position of nonnative-speakers who teach English in various political and geographical…

In this inquiry, I examine the cross educational experiences of ten Arab undergraduate students in two English-language universities in Montreal. Participants were from Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco and have been in Canada for three to seven years. Classic qualitative methodological tools of in-depth interviews, participant observation and…

Investigates the role of primary linguistic data in the acquisition of linguistic competence. The study examines the knowledge of adverb placement of francophone students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) one year after their exposure to a flood of data on adverb placement in English. Results indicate no change in the subjects'…

This study was undertaken to determine motivational factors connected with the learning of English by francophone students living in a milieu where there is little contact with anglophones. Research is reviewed which supports the contention that the attitudinal/motivational dimension, or integrative motivation, bears an important relationship to…

This paper discusses some major theories of social and educational change (e.g., evolutionary theory, structural functional theory, systems theory, group conflict theory, and cultural revival and social movement theory), and delineates the identification and interpretation of variables relevant to an understanding of bilingual education within the…